The Million Ounce Plant Upgrade (MOPU) is a major project underway at the Lihir Island operation in New Ireland province of Papua New Guinea. The upgrade will increase total annual gold production on average by approximately 240,000 ounces per annum from 2012 over the remaining life of the operation.

Major process plant expansion

The project involves the installation of one additional autoclave with double the capacity of each of the three existing autoclaves, as well as additional crushing, grinding, thickening, oxygen and leach plant facilities. Grinding capacity of the plant will increase from around ~6 Mtpa to approximately 11-12 Mtpa.

Project benefits

• Gold production at Lihir Island to exceed 1 million ounces per year from 2012
• Significant US$700 million investment in Papua New Guinea's economy
• Economies of scale resulting in a reduction of unit costs of approximately US$80 per ounce over the life of the project
• Reduced costs and improved economics likely to feed through to a reduction in cut off grades for the reserve, extending the overall life of the operation

For more information read the
Million Ounce Plant Upgrade Fact Sheet (430 KB)
Million Ounce Plant Upgrade – Environmental Impact Statement Vol 1 (8 MB).
(Note: For further volumes of the report please contact the Brisbane Corporate Office.)